Introduced in 1904. Discontinued in 1918. It’s hard to believe this design ran for fourteen years; the only singles I have seen are from salesman’s sample books. I have one complete red deck, which is the only one I’ve ever seen. I purchased it at a pre-internet mail auction in the mid-1990s. It was part of an auction lot of about ten Bicycle decks. Lenny Schneir, one of the legendary playing card collectors, was the consigner. Those ten decks were the seed from which my Bicycle playing card collection grew.

While there is occasional repetition of some of the little odd-shaped dots and patterns, I have tried and failed to find any hint of symmetry in the pattern of the Snowflake back. It appears to be entirely random, and I would be remiss if I didn’t note that the individual elements are unlike any snowflake I have ever seen.

A collector friend writes, “I have a sample book that probably represents the 1918 edition, based upon the latest back design copyright of 1917. What I found interesting here is that Snowflake, Star Plaid No. 1, Tri-Plaid and Western Plaid were all available simultaneously under both Bicycle and their Army and Navy #3032 brand, all in red and blue.”

The final image below shows an early Russell and Morgan square-cornered faro deck that features a very similar patterned snowflake back design. It can be found in the Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, identified as US11.